HST hot-Jupiter transmission spectral survey: Clear skies for cool Saturn WASP-39b

TL;DR

This study presents optical and infrared transmission spectra of the cool Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b, revealing clear skies with detectable alkali absorption features, highlighting atmospheric diversity among gas giants.

Contribution

First detection of both sodium and potassium features with extended wings in a cool Saturn-mass exoplanet's atmosphere, indicating a largely cloud-free atmosphere consistent with models.

Findings

Detection of Rayleigh scattering slope.

Clear, H2-dominated atmosphere or weak haze presence.

WASP-39b's atmosphere is largely cloud-free despite similar temperature profiles to cloudy planets.

Abstract

We present HST STIS optical transmission spectroscopy of the cool Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from 0.29-1.025 micron, along with complementary transit observations from Spitzer IRAC at 3.6 and 4.5 micron. The low density and large atmospheric pressure scale height ofWASP-39b make it particularly amenable to atmospheric characterization using this technique. We detect a Rayleigh scattering slope as well as sodium and potassium absorption features; this is the first exoplanet in which both alkali features are clearly detected with the extended wings predicted by cloud-free atmosphere models. The full transmission spectrum is well matched by a clear, H2-dominated atmosphere or one containing a weak contribution from haze, in good agreement with the preliminary reduction of these data presented in Sing et al. (2016). WASP-39b is predicted to have a pressure-temperature profile comparable to that of HD 189733b and WASP-6b, making it one of the coolest transiting gas giants observed in our HST STIS survey. Despite this similarity, WASP-39b appears to be largely cloud-free while the transmission spectra of HD 189733b and WASP-6b both indicate the presence of high altitude clouds or hazes. These observations further emphasize the surprising diversity of cloudy and cloud-free gas giant planets in short-period orbits and the corresponding challenges associated with developing predictive cloud models for these atmospheres.